“What are you doing, Lost?” Clyde asks with a growl. He tries to kill the womb-born again, but the same thing happens and he is left fuming. “This has to be done. He’s become too dangerous and refuses to stand down. I know he’s your friend, but you can’t let him take you down with him.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you kill him,” Lost says as she approaches with Bob only a few steps behind her. As soon as she is within reach of Eighty, she swings her fist to knock his head off and has her bunny tear through his chest to destroy his heart. “You said it yourself, Mr. Clyde. I was the one who created him, so I had to be the one to destroy him. Adults clean up their own messes, right? Let me handle the other womb-born before you execute me. Killing me is what our laws say you should do, but I don’t want to leave any trouble behind. Bob already promised to take care of bunny too, so I won’t have any loose ends.”
With a chuckle, Clyde puts his weapon away and cuts off his Lord’s Rage, which makes his head swim. “Maybe you should be the one to lead Nytefall instead of me. You have a better handle on this ruler thing than I do, Princess General Lost. We’ll talk about what to do with you and the other womb-born later. The whole execution thing still isn’t sitting well with me in this situation. After all, you’re accepting responsibility and cleaning up your messes. No reason to punish you that severely when you’ve learned your lessons. That and I get the feeling that Bob would miss you. He doesn’t get that attached to anyone unless they’re a horse, so you must be special.”
“It’s because I can teach her how to ride,” the elf declares with a grin. Dull thuds echo throughout the ruins and he jumps to catch Lost whose body locks up. “The womb-born are becoming paralyzed. It must be those seeds inside them. The kid is dead, but he could have prepared for that. He could have feared being abandoned so much that he’s trying to take all of his friends with him. If only we had really tiny horses to go in and eat the plants.”
“It’s just paralysis from what I can tell,” the black-haired Dawn Fang claims when he finds it difficult to move the girl’s arm. Seeing the others step into the open, he signals that the battle is over and they should leave. “We can take Lost to Gregorio and come back here with whatever cure he makes. That or Mab can shadow all of them to his lair over time. Leaving all the womb-born in Kylgirth for a few days isn’t a bad idea since nobody comes here anymore. It will give us some time to figure out a new home for them. We still have the old island list we used before choosing the location for Nytefall . . . Do you smell a lot of blood all of a sudden?”
The ruins are bathed in a crimson light that emanates from hundreds of sigils that have been drawn on the dome, ground, and walls. Clyde is about to call his friends over to the trees when he notices Stephanie standing on top of a broken tower. The gaunt calico has her hands raised and is mumbling a spell in a tongue that combines several languages. Catching her voice on the stale breeze, her words make the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He is unsure of what she is doing until her palms glow with the same sigils that cover the ruins. Seeing that the ritualist is about to clap, the Dawn Fang realizes that she is going to set off a chain of magical explosions that will obliterate the ancient city. Clyde creates the illusion of a screaming mouth in front of each of his friends to tell them to escape while he grabs Bob and Lost. Seeing the bunny floating nearby, he rushes to grab it in his mouth and leaps off the trees. The instant he hits the ground, the vampire sprints for the nearest exit while Stephanie finishes her spell. The faint slap of her hands coming together seems to echo throughout the ruins before the noise is drowned out by hundreds of explosions. Flaming chunks of stone fall from above while smoking holes are punched into the old roads and buildings. Refusing to be buried for the second time in his life, Clyde unleashes enough of his Lord’s Rage to become a crimson blur and bashes through the outer wall. He stops at the edge of the forest to watch Kylgirth implode and sink into the fragile ground along with the entire womb-born army.
16
“All of us are in agreement that you shouldn’t kill Lost,” Chastity declares as she walks out of the bath. Wrapped in a towel and barefoot, she makes her way through Gregorio’s lab and slaps her hands on the table in front of Clyde. “It’s clear that she was manipulated by Eighty and she wasn’t there when the womb-born attacked that town. More importantly, Lost is determined to fix her mistakes. If you want to be a real leader then you need to allow for people to earn forgiveness and redemption. Otherwise, you’re nothing more than a warlord. Sure, there are many vampires who go too far, but my daughter didn’t do it out of malice. She simply didn’t know the rules as we’ve told you several times. Furthermore, I feel that you will have to execute me alongside her. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t abandoned her in the first place.”
Chastity holds her breath when Clyde gets to his feet and walks around the table with his hands behind his back. Movement to her left nearly causes her to jump, but she sees that it is only her friends entering the table-filled chamber. All of them are carrying plates of food and nursing jugs of blood, their wounds from the battle having healed hours ago. The hostess flinches when the Dawn Fang leader’s arm lashes out, but all she feels is a stiff breeze hitting her face and a fuzzy object graze her shoulder. Finding no wounds on her smooth flesh, Chastity turns around in time to watch Lost catch the limp bunny on her foot. The animal instantly comes to life and hops onto Gregorio’s head to bat at the gnome’s goggles.
“Who were you talking to if you were bathing alone?” Clyde asks with a smirk. Taking a neatly folded dress off a bench, he hands it to his friend and creates a cloudy cylinder to give her some privacy. “I guess I’ll start this gathering by talking about Lost. Contrary to the rules I made years ago, I have no intention of killing her. The more I thought about the punishment, the less sense it made. Putting aside her ignorance of our ways, she is an important milestone for the Dawn Fangs. Destroying the first womb-born would be like me being executed once I came out of the ground. One thing I don’t want to be is a hypocrite if I can avoid it. Were you able to find any other survivors in Kylgirth?”
“The rubble is too hot to touch and I can only get into the empty basement by using the shadows,” Mab explains, her claws tipped with plump strawberries. Taking a seat on one of the tables, she calmly takes a few bites while gathering her thoughts. “It could be days or even weeks before we get in there, but I don’t think we’ll find anything. Thanks to the paralysis, the womb-born would have been crushed or burned alive. I won’t say that finding survivors is impossible. Yet, I can’t see how even one of our kind could have survived that thorough of a blast.”
“Not to mention the paralysis will kill them in five days,” Gregorio says while he has Lost sit in a chair. Touching the girl’s neck and staring into her eyes, he searches for signs that Eighty’s seeds are still within her body. “That is only an estimate, but the infectious vines were wrapping around Lost’s muscles and bones. They were still growing, which makes me believe that they would eventually go after internal organs for nourishment. Dawn Fangs are durable, but we can’t survive if our insides are turned into pulp. I think . . . To be honest, I haven’t really tested it. Either way, the womb-born wouldn’t be able to get enough blood to heal, which means they would either die or fall into a coma. The latter would leave them exposed to being devoured by rats and other vermin that return to the ruins. So, have you figured out how to stop this from happening again?”
Snatching two strawberries off Mab’s hand, Clyde juggles them on his knuckles. “Only thing to do is let all Dawn Fangs know that they can get pregnant and what happens when they give birth. I expect it to be messy for a bit because those who have already gone through this will be hunting for their children. We can’t even tell all of them that their kids are dead because there were only a couple hundred womb-born in Lost’s army. That seems very low for sixteen years of ignorance on our part, which has me wondering if those were simply the ones living in Ralian. I doubt t
hose in Canst’s Fields or Cerascent would have answered a psychic call. This means we need to search the world for womb-born and bring them to Nytefall. Mab, you and the four Vengeance Hounds will take care of that.”
“Four?” Lost asks, coming out of her stupor. Looking over at Titus, she nearly squeals in delight when he nods his head. “I’m still one of you? I thought you were going to let me live and lock me away after what I did. Eighty was my friend, but I killed him, which made me think you would see me as disloyal. Not to mention murder is bad in general unless it’s self-defense or hunting. Can bunny be a Vengeance Hound too? Never mind, he doesn’t like the idea of being called something that might eat him. By the way, which room is mine, Grandpa Roman? I can move in right away after I buy new pajamas.”
All of the doors shake as Chastity steps out of the privacy spell, a few tears already rolling down her cheeks. The pink handprints on her black dress move and swirl with her emotions, the enchanted images eventually fading away. She is about to yell at Gregorio when Lost tackles her with a running hug that sends both of them crashing into a pile of chairs. Refusing to let go, the girl has her bunny fly up to grab her by the back of the shirt and try to lift her. The animal is too weak, so Luther and Bob hurry over to put the women back on their feet. Chastity eventually pries herself loose and touches her sides to count how many ribs are broken. She is about to get pounced on again when she stops her daughter by stacking two tables and moving them into the girl’s path.
“Use your words,” Chastity mutters while her friends try not to laugh. Taking the last of Mab’s strawberries, she hits the burglar with a blast of charm magic to stop her from taking the snacks back. “I’ll buy you a bushel later. Now, what is this about staying with Gregorio? I know we had a really big fight and don’t really know each other, but I thought you could live at the Scrumptious Siren. Might not be the most child-friendly place, but you’re sixteen, so I only have to keep you away from the kinky stuff for a few years. Do you really hate me so much that you don’t want to be near me?”
“I don’t know,” Lost says as she is put on her feet. Her response causes Titus and Bob to fall over laughing, which leaves them open to getting telekinetically rolled into a closet. “You abandoned me and you saved me, so I don’t know what to do about you. I’m still angry, but not as much as I was before because you’re trying to make things up to me. All of that has nothing to do with why I’m staying here. Grandpa Roman pointed out that I don’t have the best control of my powers, so I think I should stay here to learn. Your home has too many minds for me to slip into and I don’t think I’m ready to live in Nytefall right now. There’s also the problem of you having far too many socks in your wardrobe. One pair is frightening enough, but you have at least one hundred and I’m including stockings now. Those are nothing more than stretched socks, which try to trick you into dropping your guard. What else did we talk about, Grandpa Roman?”
The gnome pats the girl on the shoulder before handing a scroll over to Clyde. “This is going to be difficult considering my neutrality, but I managed to get that contract signed by Xavier and Nadia. You will have to do so as well. It is an agreement that all womb-born Dawn Fangs will be sent to my lair for at least one month of training. Of course, I don’t mean when they are born since they will need their parents. This is entirely for when they develop their three powers. Best to train them in this place than let them practice among mortals. Think of it like a military or caster academy, but less structured and with a shorter enrollment period. To be honest, Chastity, another reason I would like Lost to stay here is because she can help me work with the womb-born who are already out there. Her lack of knowledge aside, your daughter can be an important bridge between so many factions. I wish to nurture her abilities and teach her to be a future leader for our people. Not that I want to replace my son, but we all know he’ll want to hand the throne over one day.”
“Will I get to see her?” Chastity softly asks, the pink handprints returning.
“Of course, I’ll come to visit whenever I can,” Lost announces with a smile. She attempts another crushing hug, but is flipped over her mother and left dangling in the air. “You can come here too when you want. I need to learn how to use my powers on outside objects instead of just myself. The only time I tried was on bunny, but it failed. Guess my telekinesis doesn’t work on living things. We should do something before everyone leaves. I had the perfect idea too, which Grandpa Roman agreed to.”
“I sense another celebra-” Bob starts to declare before the girl quickly shoves a broom into his hands. He looks at the other Vengeance Hounds, who are immediately laden with buckets and mops. “Well, I’ve been wrong before. Do you happen to have any stables, Gregorio? I always prefer to work on those when I have the most amount of energy.”
“You just want to slack off with the horses,” Luther interjects while he tries to put the buckets down without spilling water.
The Dawn Fangs laugh and go over the plan to clean the immense lair while noticing that two of their number have moved to a distant corner. Lost is about to see what Clyde and Mab are up to when Chastity catches her arm. Looking again, the girl gets the sense that the pair are having a very personal conversation. For the first time in her life, she focuses on her hearing enough to consciously bring it back to mortal levels. The abrupt disappearance of the whispers that she has heard since childhood is not as disorienting as she expected, but it is enough to make her feel confused. Her new family is quick to help her regain her composure by letting her choose the first room to clean.
“If you’re worried about the heist you promised then don’t worry,” Mab whispers, her eyes repeatedly darting back to their friends.
“That’s not it at all,” Clyde replies with a chuckle. Leaning against the wall, he taps a finger on the stone to make a series of dents. “In fact, I think I need that kind of vacation. Just to get away from this and act like my old self. Lost showed me how I should be acting, which will take some time to achieve.”
“Then, what’s really eating at you?”
“Two questions that I don’t have an answer to.”
“Why did Stephanie show up to collapse the ruins?”
“And what happened to Archillious.”
“Have any ideas?”
Clyde sighs and sticks his hands in his pockets as he answers, “None whatsoever and that’s what worries me.”
*****
Sitting on their thrones, Xavier and Nadia remain silent after hearing the report from their returning agents. Kai and Decker sit awkwardly in their chairs, the vampires’ nerves too strained to enjoy the mugs of blood that Lou brings them. Taking his place behind his master’s chair, the ogre is surprised when the Lady of Nyte abruptly walks towards the two men. She continues heading for the door without giving the others a second glance, her face an emotionless mask. It is not until Xavier snaps his fingers at her bodyguard that the hairy vampire moves away from the thrones and hurries after his master. Lou is almost at the doors when they slam shut and he crashes into them, their enchantments causing him to bounce off. Pulling at the handles, he finds that they are locked and turns to shrug helplessly. Not wanting to break anything, he begins to whimper and shift uncomfortably. Seeing the silver-haired man scowl in his general direction, the worried ogre gets the idea to climb out the window and jump into the moat. The loud splash snaps the Lord of Nyte out of his thoughts and it takes him a moment to realize what has happened.
“It is probably for the best that only the three of us talk,” Xavier says, his face briefly taking on an edged appearance. He glances at his wife’s empty throne and considers going to check on her, but knows she needs time alone. “Let me make sure I have this right. The womb-born went into Kylgirth with Clyde’s gang following. You three used a secret tunnel to follow in order to bring me a report. All of that makes sense. What I don’t understand is Stephanie losing her mind and betraying you. How did she defeat my General and my spymaster? She’s never been muc
h of a fighter.”
“From what we can tell, it wasn’t a betrayal,” Kai explains while bowing his head. The portly vampire takes a quick sip of blood to quell his thirst and give his companion a chance to speak. “I will apologize since I should have taken the lead in such a situation. Instead of going inside with the others, I watched the outer wall to see if anyone escaped. The General was put to sleep by Stephanie’s spell and she left him in the tunnel. Nobody expected it because she seemed too weak to do more than observe. The reality is that she was storing up her blood in her tail to create hundreds of explosive runes for an obliteration ritual. Decker was left in an area where he would not be hurt and I assume she would have done the same to me if I was there. Having been outside, I cannot give you any details, but she brought down the ruins on herself and the womb-born. We think she tried to eliminate all of your enemies at once, but we are sure that Clyde’s gang and Lost survived. Please don’t see her actions as a betrayal, but as a noble sacrifice for Nyte.”
“If anyone should be punished, it should be me,” Decker states as he goes down on one knee. Still reeling from the spell, he yawns and nearly falls asleep until he smacks himself in the face. “Part of my job is to protect those of us who aren’t much use in a fight. If I had thought clearly then I would have sent her back to Nyte while going with Kai to Kylgirth. At the very least, I should have told her to stay outside and away from the battle. This entire mission was a disaster and I take full responsibility. From Archillious tricking us to Stephanie’s death, it is all my fault, Lord Tempest.”
Xavier gets to his feet and steps off the dais while both of his agents bow, neither one wishing to meet his gaze. Stopping in front of Kai, he reaches down to pluck a twig off the spymaster’s shirt. The momentary contact causes the weaker vampire to tense up, which brings a bemused smile to the noble’s face. Turning to Decker, he considers doing something similar, but stops when he sees the soldier’s serious expression. A pang of sympathy strikes his beating heart, which stirs a slight sense of self-loathing. Not wanting to dwell on his mortal emotions, the Lord of Nyte puts his hands on his agents’ chins and easily lifts them to their feet. A crackle of magic is on his fingertips and the energy flows out of him to wash away their exhaustion and layers of grime.
Lost (War of Nytefall Book 2) Page 28
